Cougars striker makes history

Gillian Doubleday has made history.
The Mount Royal University soccer star scored five goals, including the 47th of her career, to establish the new Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference (ACAC) women’s individual scoring record. The goals came in the Cougars’ second last game of the season, a 9-0 win over Lakeland College in Vermillion Oct. 16. Doubleday has scored 20 goals in 10 games this season, moving her past Lauren Leismeister into top spot on the ACAC’s all- time list. Leismeister tallied 46 goals in 38 games for Medicine Hat. Doubleday set the mark in her 32nd game. “I feel happy. It was good to get it out of the way so we can concentrate on provincials,” she said.

The five goals against Lakeland came in only 60 minutes of playing time. After Doubleday netted her fourth goal, head coach Tino Fusco called her over to the sidelines and said he wanted to take her out of the game for a rest, but he encouraged her to “go out and get the fifth one” first. Just over two minutes later, she did exactly that. “I knew I could do it, the way we were playing. We were doing a lot of one-two type passes and getting a lot of chances,” she said. After she scored the record goal, Doubleday said the Cougars carried on business as usual. There was no huge celebration on the field. After the final whistle, Doubleday received player of the game honours and she and her teammates enjoyed the moment.

“This really is a bigger deal for me. This is all I have ever wanted to do. Every time I go out on the field, all I want to do is score goals,” she said. Even with the record now hers, Doubleday isn’t finished. She has one more year at Mount Royal and plans on adding to the mark. First up, however, are the ACAC playoffs this weekend. The Cougars have secured a bye into the semi-finals and will face either Red Deer or NAIT this Saturday, Oct. 23. Doubleday said the Cougars are ready to face the challenge. “We’re in a good place right now. We are confident, but not overconfident,” she said. “We know were are able to do this (win provincials). We just have to go out, make no mistakes on the field, and just do it.”